The City of Cape Town’s staff newspaper, Contact, took top honours at the SA Publication Forum’s annual awards this year. Contact was judged Best Corporate Publication for 2011, chosen out of almost 150 entries from the who’s who of corporations and organisations across the country.
Entries in this category were submitted from Absa, Anglo American, Boland College, Clover, CSIR, Distell, Exxaro, FNB,Kumba Iron Ore, Mango, Mediclinic, Mercedes, Metropolitan, MTN, Multi Choice, Mutual Federal, Nedbank, Old Mutual, SA Grain, Santam, Sappi, Standard Bank, Telkom, The Auditor-General, Tukkies, Unisa, University of the Witwatersrand, University of the North-West, and Vital Foods.
This is the third time that Contact has won the trophy for best publication, having also received it in 2007 and 2008. The second and third runners-up for best overall publication were Exxaro’s xxplore and Santam’s essence.
At the awards ceremony held in Midrand, several other City publications – all developed and published by the City’s Communication Department – also did very well. CityNews, the newspaper for residents, was first runner-up for Best Newspaper and a finalist for Best Communication. The Five Year Plan for Cape Town, an annual publication outlining the Integrated Development Plan (IDP), was first runner-up for Best Once-off Publication, while the City of Cape Town Council Overview, an information document for incoming councillors, took third place in that category (which was won by Phelophepa Health Care Train). The City’s annual report was first runner-up in the Best Annual Report category, second to Distell.
Publications were judged in terms of writing, communication, design and photography in various categories. Contact also won the Best Newspaper – for the sixth time in the ten years of the competition – and Best Communication awards.
“I am extremely pleased at the recognition given to our publications which are important tools used by the City to communicate with both internal and external stakeholders. It’s also noteworthy that the City of Cape Town remains the only local government entity to feature at the annual awards,” said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate services, Alderman Demetri Qually.
“The City of Cape Town enters industry benchmark competitions not only for accolades, but also to learn from the detailed comments from expert judges in order to apply some of their suggestions. This promotes excellence and continuous improvement.”
The organisers said that they were delighted to see so many world-class publications, including electronic newsletters and DVDs, being entered this year, and amazed that several of the consistent winners continue to find room for improvement.
